The future of neighborhood councils

At 3 pm on Tuesday, April 5th, and next week on April 11, the Education and Neighborhoods Committee, chaired by Councilmember Alex Padilla, will hear testimony and make final recommendations on the Neighborhood Council Review Commission, which many of you know as the "912 Commission". These recommendations will be sent to the full council for discussion and adoption at the end of April.

In these sessions, the committee will focus on setting the process for appointing members to the 912 Commission and crafting the commisssion's scope of work. Once it is in place, the commission will review and evaluate our great neighborhood council experiment from top to bottom.

If you've got something to say about where neighborhod councils shine or where they could use improvement in empowering and giving voice to communities, please speak up at one of these two hearings.

More information is online at www.lacityneighborhoods.com. Councilmember Padilla's office may also have information, and you may always reach my District Director of Community Development, Shane Goldsmith, at (323) 957-4500 or via e-mail.